Coalition to throw Australia’s support behind Israel in campaign pledges

As a signatory to the agreement recognising the court, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Friday Australia respected the court’s independence but did not endorse or oppose its decision or say what the government would do if any of the men set foot here.

Paterson is incredulous about Australia’s decision to deny entry to Shaked, a former minister for justice who made headlines last year calling for all Gazans to be deported and the southern city of Khan Younis turned into a soccer field.

Israel’s foreign ministry on Friday night posted a statement describing the decision as “deeply offensive”.

“We will not – and I can’t believe I need to say this – ban former Israeli ministers from centrist governments from visiting Australia,” Paterson will say, according to a version of the speech provided to this masthead.

“Nor would we – and again I can’t believe this needs to be said – arrest the democratically elected head of a friendly government for the crime of defending his country. We will never abandon our ally in international forums like the United Nations.”

Paterson singled out protests on campus and reporting on public broadcasters as a focus for any future Coalition government.

“We will not allow antisemitism to fester on campus unchecked. We will not allow our taxpayer-funded arts and cultural institutions to be hijacked. We will make clear we expect accurate and impartial reporting from our publicly funded broadcasters,” Paterson will say in the speech.

“We will do this not only for the Jewish community but for our country. Because a country that is not safe for Jews is not safe for anyone.”

Labor had equivocated on the antisemitism outbreak, Paterson will argue, by “always” mentioning Islamophobia in the same breath as antisemitism.

“There is no other form of racism we treat like this. If there is an instance of racism against Indigenous Australians, for example, no political leader says, ‘I condemn anti-Indigenous racism and anti-Asian racism.’ All forms of racism should be called out when it occurs,” he said.

In the six months from October 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024 figures from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry show there was a 42 per cent increase in the number of anti-Jewish incidents from the same period the year before.

Reports to the Islamophobia Register Australia had risen by 1300 per cent compared with the same period the year before.

Signalling there could be Coalition funding cuts to the UN agency responsible for aid for Palestinians, Paterson said no money would be given to agencies employing terrorists.

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